


The Rise of the Sol Republic

by Rook_385



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Earth, Earthlings in Star Wars, Pirates, Space Battles, United Earth, United Nations, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:42:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28826889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rook_385/pseuds/Rook_385
Summary: On December 27th, 2020, Earth would be brought into the Galactic Republic and become the gateway into the unknown regions. However, the people of Earth would be forced to fight for their place in the galaxy against pirates, sith, and everything in between.
Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 30
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: First Contact

32 BBY  
2020 AD

Consular-Class Cruiser  
RSS Empress Tita

"Captain, we should exit hyperspace in less than a minute." The one who uttered those words was known as Mune Wolf, or Luna by Dak Antilles. He was much younger and taller than Dak sporting a budding goatee and head of vibrant brown hair.

They had served alongside each other for nearly five years now, scouting different hyperspace lanes for new planets to colonize or bring into the Galactic Republic.

This one seemed to be the most promising, it went westwards from Empress Tita through the deep core. And was now seemingly entering the opposite side of the core from Coruscant.

It was as if they had found a gateway to the frontier.

"Thank you, Ensign." Dak Antilles spoke with a nod. His hazel eyes turned toward the blue expanse of hyperspace in front of him, within a minute the blue tunnel faded away and they emerged above a large planet.

Even from his position on the bridge of the ship he was in awe of the planet in front of him. They had emerged on the side of the planet which was currently experiencing night, but the mass of lights was immense.

"Have you gotten an idea of the size of the planet?" Dak inquired.

"It's a similar size to Alderaan, Dak, but judging on the number of lights illuminating this side of the planet." he paused for a moment, his words failed him.

"Send a message ahead of us, we need to return to the Republic and let them know about what we've found!" Dak was frantic, who wouldn't have?

Little did the duo know, that far below them the 20-year-old Edward Andersen watched the ship turn and jump back into hyperspace through his telescope. The teen uttered two words, full of shock and amazement, "Holy Shit."

\----  
2 Days Later, Earth, December 29, 2020  
\-----

For the next two days, videos and press conferences over the sighting of the Alien vessel. Some believed it was simply photoshop, CGI, or a military test launch. The sudden U.N. Conference stopped those conversations in their tracks, from the little amount of news that escaped the United Nations Conferences, the population was told one thing.

The world needed to prepare for First Contact.

On December 29th the United Nations unfurled a new flag replacing the United Nations flag with a new one. The world watched as a flag with seven interconnected rings over a blue background was raised and the declaration of a multinational coalition lead by the security council and its Secretary-General.

It seemed like a massive coincidence that this happened only hours before a small flotilla of nearly 20 starships arrived only hours later.

Within the hour signals from the fleet were able to be read on earth. For whatever reason, only audio transmissions arrived, anything with a video seemingly corrupted on the way down to earth.

“My name is Chancellor Finis Valorum, It is with great honor that I will be the first to greet you and welcome you to the Galactic Republic.” The Voice rang through every frequency and within days the U.N. reconvened and sent a response.

Over the next few days, the planet and flotilla send messages back and forth until finally on December 31st, a meeting place was decided and one of the ships from the flotilla descended toward Central Park.

On the ground stood Jaimee Soto, the Secretary-General. She stared at the sky as a large red ship with three massive engines slowly descended to the ground, “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Think of it this way.” A woman next to Jaimee spoke, “At least your name will go down in history.”

“Whether that is a good or bad thing remains to be seen,” The Secretary-General spoke, “Just wish me luck, Emily.”

“Times Square was a wonderful choice, Secretary-General.” A tall man in a black suit and red tie spoke, “This will surely-”

“All due respect, Mr. President,” Jaimee cut off the man, “This concerns far more than your plan for re-election in 2024.”

At that moment the large ship finally touched down and the trio watched as a ramp descended and the aliens finally exited their starship. The first ones out of the starships were humans dressed in blue uniforms and with vests, they stopped in front of the ramp and looked as if they were soldiers.

While the delegation from Earth was white with shock, a second group exited the craft. A man in thick blue robes and a graying head of hair. The people around him were also human, their eyes were filled with shock similar to theirs.

“You’re human?”

The two delegations stared at each other for several moments before Jaimee took a breath and finally began her greeting, “Welcome to Earth, it is an honor to welcome you to our home,” She turned her gaze to the man in the thick blue robes, “I take it you’re Chancellor Valorum.”

“That I am.” The man spoke, shock still in his voice.

“If you would please follow me.” The delegation made their way to a large white tent where they got into unmarked black cars.

From there the cars drove to the United Nations building in relative silence. Once they left the cars they made their way into the building and then into one of the many meeting rooms. That is where Chancellor Valorum took the lead.

For the next few minutes, Valorum talked about what the Galactic Republic was and what it stood for.

Eventually, Jaimee stopped him, "Thanks for letting us know about all that, but I think it's time for us to introduce ourselves," She pointed to the blonde-haired man next to her, "This is Ron Maximilian, the President of the United States of America," She turned toward the ginger-haired girl on her opposite side, "This is Emily McDonald, Deputy-Secretary of the United Nations, and I am Jaimee Soto, Secretary-General of the United Nations."

"United Nations?" One of the senators from the Republic Delegation echoed.

"The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization that aims to maintain international peace and security across the planet." Jaimee paused for a moment, "While we've… had issues, we're closer to achieving our goal than ever before."

"That's good to hear," Valorum sighed with relief, "That means that you will have a form of representation in the Galactic Senate. Tell me, how many nations are there on your planet?"

"195." The Secretary-General answered without missing a beat.

"How many are a part of your United Nations?" He questioned.

"193." She answered.

Valorum was silent for a moment, "When is the soonest I will be able to speak the entire United Nations."

"We've had everyone on standby for more than a day, give it nearly 3 hours and we'll have you broadcasting to the entire world," Jaimee answered.

"Please get everything ready, I wish to make my statement."

\-----

Across the world, more than four billion people were surprised the see the United Nations assemble, at the head of the General Assembly a man in blue robes and with a graying head of hair stood tall.

"People of Earth, My name is Finis Valorum." His voice boomed over the microphone and echoed across the entire planet, "I am here to announce your formal invitation to be represented in the Galactic Republic. Now, many of you may be wondering what the Galactic Republic is, give me a moment and I will explain." His gaze slowly moved over the General Assembly and even stared into the cameras live-streaming the entire thing, "The Galactic Republic is a government similar to that of your United Nations, we have brought peace to the galaxy for more than one thousand years, and have brought prosperity and lucrative trade and goods to every corner of the galaxy."

He paused once more, a blue hologram appeared above the assembled representatives, it showed a mass of planets, roughly half the galaxy, all with the same symbol, the symbol of the Galactic Republic. "Nearly half the galaxy is represented by the Galactic Senate, and by joining you would gain technology you have only dreamed of, and never have to worry about impure water or food shortages." One final pause before he continued, "Your citizens would be allowed to move freely and you'd be allowed to learn and grow. So I implore you, join the Galactic Republic."

As the chancellor stepped away from the podium conversation filled the chamber, the Secretary-General took her place. With one look from her, the chamber grew quiet, "Today we hold a historic Vote, whether to join the Galactic Republic or stay Independent." Her voice grew quiet for a moment, "Your options are laid out before you, please vote for what would be best for more than your country, but for the world."

The world watched with bated breath as countries voted on their options, one by one, choosing their positions, and finally, after nearly an hour, the decision was made."

Deputy-Secretary Emily McDonald took the stage, "On the matter of how the Joining the Galactic Republic, the results are in." She paused for a few minutes, "One hundred and seventy-two votes to join, and nineteen voted to stay independent." She looked up from the results, "We are from this moment forth, members of the Galactic Republic."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: One Step Further

Six Months after U.N. Vote

31 BBY, 2021 CE

\-----

“Lieutenant! Edward Anderson Reporting for duty!” The raven proclaimed, saluting his superior Officer, Captain Daws. Several others in the room with similar ranks up to the commander proclaimed the same statement and stood at attention.

The captain walked up to him. His uniform displayed is rank. On his collar was an Eagle behind a shield holding an arrow in his talons, his shoulders had patches with four yellow stripes and a star near the point, his sleeves had the same. The man looked them over before making his statement, “It has just come to my attention that command has acquired a squadron of corvettes from the republic, we are to board them and work alongside Republic crewman to learn the ins and outs of space travel if all goes well it will be our fleet, the first fleet that jumps to Alpha Centauri and lays our eyes on it.” He paused for a moment and stared at the assembled group, “Any questions?”

“Will we be in space for this sir?” A blonde lieutenant named Amy Straus asked, immediately cringing at his question.

“No,” Captain Daws responded, “From what I’ve been told we’ll be learning about the mechanics first and then we’ll be going from there.” 

“Thank you, sir,” Amy replied.

“Any other questions?” Daws asked. When no one else responded, Daws turned away, “Spread the word to your men, then report to the dock at 1200, you’re dismissed.”

Edward made his way from the briefing room of the frigate down to the barracks where he was met by his men, they had been told to wait there while he learned what was going on.

"Well, I hope you guys like spaceships, because we're going to learn how to fly one." 

"Wait, actual starships?" One of the men asked, a young man by the name of Jacob, "We're going to fly one?" 

"We're going to  _ learn _ how to fly one, with the help of Republic crews," He leaned against one of the bunks and crossed his arms over his chest, "We need to report to the docks by 1200." 

"What should we do until then?" One of them asked.

"I heard they had that Star Trek Armada game in the mess hall," Edward Shrugged, "I guess I could buy someone a drink if they beat me." 

"You're on!" One of his men shouted, charging out of the room.

"Hey, Anthony!" Edward charged after him, "Wait up!" 

\-----

Meanwhile, in the United Nations Building

\-----

“The representative from the United States wishes to speak.” 

All the heads of the general assembly turned to the American representative, the woman tucked her hair behind her ear and began to speak, “The United States of America will veto this bill.”

A huff found its way through the general assembly and Jaimee Soto, the Secretary-General stood up and made her way to the podium, “With that, today’s work is finished, one week from now we will reconvene and discuss the possibility of a united Earth defense fleet."

The general assembly slowly drained out of the chamber and Jaimee sat down in her chair and collected her papers before putting them into her briefcase.

“Are you the Secretary-General?” a feminine voice spoke.

Jaimee turned her head and saw a woman with short brown hair in all white. On one side of her was a man with brown hair and goatee, he wore a blue cloak and brown turtleneck. 

Jaimee scrambled to her feet and smiled at the two, “You two must be Mon Mothma and Bail Organa, I told my aids to tell me when you arrived on Earth, they must have-”

“It’s alright, Secretary-General.” The man said in a calm voice, “We were able to catch the vote, it's a shame your world has trouble uniting.”

“If they could only see how much more powerful a United Earth would be.” Jaimee leaned back against her desk and crossed her arms over her chest, “There are plenty of dangers in the galaxy, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that we as we are now wouldn’t even be able to compete against a group of pirates.” She paused, “If the Trade Federation pulled the same move on us as they did on Naboo, it wouldn’t hurt as much but...:”

“That is why we are here to lend our support.” Mon Mothma spoke, “A week from now we want to speak about supporting the formation of a United Earth.”

“Alright,” Jaimee smiled, “but why see me so far ahead of schedule?”

“We have a lot of things to talk about,” Mon Mothma began, “So we must get started.”

\-----

"Welcome to the RSS Empress Tita, one of the oldest Consular-Class Cruisers that are still in service." A man spoke, though Anderson didn't know if it was a man or not, the fish scales it had made it look like a squid. He had a long scar that went through his left eye and down to the tentacles at the bottom of his face. The squid looked around the soldiers and continued to speak, "My name is Ward, It has come to my attention that your country is the most powerful on the planet." 

A few smiles of pride made their way onto the ensigns and soldiers. 

"Don't be fooled, a band of raiders could do considerable damage, do you know why?" The alien waited for a moment before he continued, "You don't have a star fleet to speak of, so it is with great pleasure that I and my crew are here to teach you what we know." 

They were quickly split into groups and took their time learning the different controls, observing how things worked and how the ship's computer and onboard droids could assist. 

Throughout this time they learned a great amount, ranging from how their trainer was a Quarren to seeing how hyperspace required a complex set of calculations. 

After one week, they watched as the UN held a vote on a bill named after the Starfleet Accords

\-----

"Thanks for allowing me to speak, Secretary-General." Bail Organa nodded. 

The General Assembly shifted in their seats as they got ready to hear what the man had to say.

"I have toured your planet alongside my friend Mon Mothma and the Secretary-General," He began, "It was a beautiful place, there are few planets with as many biomes as yours, however, I noticed something during our travels." The man's eyes slowly made their way across the crowd, "There is a major divide between developed nations and nations that are suffering, we have seen that the resources of your world are being stretched to their limits." He paused, "People aren't even able to drink clean water, can any of you imagine what it's like, knowing that you're drinking impure water and feeling your body waste away from lack of food."

Some people in the assembly continued to listen, others hung their heads in shame. 

"The Galactic Republic is bound by laws, just as your nations are. If the Earth and your nations are going to benefit from your new membership in the Galactic Republic a more united front will be needed," He paused for a moment, "Mon Mothma and myself have worked with your Secretary-General to come up with a united front."

Jaimee Soto made her way to the podium and prepared her papers before speaking, "For the first proposal of today I will talk about a defensive fleet, Underneath the Earth Defense Forces, the star fleets built by the many countries around the world will be semi-autonomous and follow the commands of their home country, however, during times of crisis, such as a war or something similar these fleets will be brought together underneath the EDF.” She paused and glanced down at her notes, “When the EDF is brought together, a panel of Admirals and generals from their home countries will be put together to work in unison and defend the Earth and her interests. This will help keep the peace between our nations domestically and deter threats abroad. This will be known as the Starfleet Accords” 

One of the members of the General Assembly asked for permission to speak and turned on their mic once they were given permission, “I will ask this question since this will undoubtedly become an issue in the coming years, on behalf of the coming colonization of the planets along not only the hyper lane but beyond, will they be U.N. controlled or be allowed to be under the control of the country that colonized them?”

Jaime switched to the second set of notes for their second proposal of the day, “I am happy you brought this up, for this is the second proposal for today. Any colonies that are created will be part of their home countries, however, will be under the administration of the United Nations, this will help keep logistics from being crowded and keep things much more streamlined. This will be known as the New Worlds Accords” She closed her notes and turned her attention to the awaiting aids of the General Assembly, “Your aids will give you pamphlets on the more intricate details of these two proposals, in six hours we will hold the vote and decide on whether we approve or decline these proposals.”

For six hours the representatives went through the packet of the Starfleet Accords and talked to their country's leaders. During that time news coverage and online videos were going crazy, Live Streams were on and everyone wanted to know what was going to happen. 

After six long hours, the General Assembly reassembled and began to cast their votes on the Accords. 

None of the security council vetoed the Accords.

With each moment more votes came through and finally after an hour, one hundred and thirty-six nations agreed to the two Accords.

The Starfleet and New Worlds Accords were ratified and finally, after six months the United Nations and Earth as a whole were one step closer to complete Unity.

  
  


\-----

While the votes were being cast, Edward Anderson and the 1st fleet were getting ready for their first test flight. It was finally time for them to launch their Consular Cruiser into space. 

"You," Their instructor pointed at Anderson, "I want you to be the one giving orders." 

Anderson sighed and took the spot behind the pilots and nearby the ensigns and took a breath, "Begin takeoff sequence." 

The hum of the three massive engines filled the entire cockpit. They felt the ship slowly lift into the air and begin moving forward.

"Continue to move into the ocean at a slight upward angle." 

The ship slowly began to ascend, once they were over the water and no buildings or ships were in danger from the power of the engines Edward made his next order.

"Bring the pitch up, put more power in the engines."

The ship's nose rose, the hum grew louder, and the consular Cruiser sped into the atmosphere. In less than a minute the blue sky dissipated and turned grey. 

Finally, the Consular Cruiser straightened out and completed their takeoff. Edward turned to their instructor and nodded, the Quarren nodded back.

"Lieutenant," One of the soldiers began. Edward turned and looked at the communications officer, "We're receiving a signal from Earth, it's getting closer." 

"Put it through," Edward ordered. Within a single push of a button, the sound of Captain Daws's voice entered the cabin. 

"Congratulations on your successful launch, lieutenant Anderson." The captain spoke, "According to my knowledge that ship is now the property of the United States Solar Navy, since you were the one to launch it, what will you name it?" 

Edward was taken aback, he rubbed the back of his head and stared out at the moon, a smile pulled at his face. He turned to the now adjacent CR-70 corvette, the starship the captain was commanding, and answered.

"I'll name it Luna." 

\-----

In the corner of a rambunctious bar in the lower levels of Coruscant, a man in a cloak handed a tablet to a woman with dark leathery skin, when she checked the contents of the tablet the corner of her mouth turned into a smile, “And why would your client spend this much money to hire a lowly pirate such as myself?”

The man let out a throaty laugh and took a sip of his drink, “He believes you and your crew can help him kill two birds with one stone, you are the best pirate in the deep core after all.”

The woman sized up the man and smiled, “What ships can I expect to be given, a proposal this large will undoubtedly require more than a few corvettes.”

“Click that red button, it will show you possible areas to free people such as yourself, and areas where ships may have… gone dark.” He paused, “If that is all, when can I expect your work to officially begin?”

“Give it about four months, I should have assembled a force large enough then.”

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Growing Pains

\--4 months after the launching of the USS Luna--  
\-----

“...ady…..” Static filled the cabin of the starship, “Mayday…. We’re under assault by an unknown….” More static, “I repeat, mayday mayday, we’re under assault by an unknown force of pirates, we require assist-” 

Many people in the cabin let out a small sigh at the end of the transmission.

Edward straightened his collar and stepped forward, “The U.N. has received transmissions like this for the past couple days, after a small conference with the Security Council, the United States has seen it fit to join with Russia and send ships along the trade line to ward off attacks and support our vessels near Antares.”

“Antares, what’s so important about that planet?” One of the communications officers repeated.

Edward glanced at him, “Don’t worry for feeling confused, Antares was just recently colonized by Humans, it is full of fuel for our starships and on the trade route, maybe we’ll get a chance to see it.”

“Sir,” One of the pilots spoke, “The Russian starship has arrived on our nine O’clock, they say they are prepped and ready for hyperspace.”

“Launch!”

The stars rushed toward the Luna and Petrov as the two ships launched into hyperspace.

\-----

Denise Pelkey stared at the shuttle landing near the town. It was a large boxy shuttle with two massive engines on the ends of the two flanking wings. As it landed the engines swiveled and helped the massive shuttle slow to a stop.

By the looks of the shuttle, it had to be someone wealthy. She sighed and rolled her eyes. Antares, what many thoughts was a newly colonized planet in the middle of a gold rush, what many didn’t think about was how much technology they lacked. Sure, they had the stuff to mine the damned Tibanna gas, but the infrastructure to land ships on the surface was still lacking meaning that it took nearly two hours at least to completely refuel a ship.

Not only that, but there was a lack of clean water on this godforsaken rock. 

So why had her luck crapped on her so bad? Why was she the one out of all her sisters to be sent to this barren hell hole of a planet?

"Look alive Denise," Her commander spoke, a man named Ken Tarra, "Looks like we have some guests, let's pull out the welcome wagon." 

As those words were spoken the bow of the shuttle opened like massive gates.

The commander narrowed his eyes for a moment before he yelled out to the garrison, "Watch out!"

An explosion swept Denise off her feet and the ringing from her ears blocked out any sounds of combat. She was still able to see laser bolts and bullets being fired, the people from the large shuttle spilled out like a wave, firing at anything that moved. 

"Get up!" Her commander spoke up once her hearing returned, "Take Jackson and Mac, go up to the top of the colonial building, we need covering fire!" 

"Yes sir!" 

She nodded toward the two men and they began to make their way to the colonial building.

Meanwhile, the commander took cover behind the front of one of their rovers and took a few potshots. 

Almost every one of his shots met their mark, sending the attackers to their end. 

He watched as the laser bolts pierced through the sandbags and killed soldiers. 

He watched as wave after wave of attackers widdled down his men.

He watched as lasers rained down from the sky and fighters strafed the soldiers below. 

"Commander watch out!" 

The bald man turned just in time to see one of his soldiers get taken down by a tall man with leather skin. His chest smoked from the laser shot.

The commander whirled his rifle around and shot a few rounds, at the same time the attacker turned his pistol on the commander and fired off a single shot. 

The commander fell onto his back and cursed as his left bicep blazed with pain.

The attacker fell backward, slowly bleeding out. 

Kevin grabbed his radio with his right hand and began to broadcast to the entire garrison, "We've been overrun, fall back to the Colonial Administration building!" 

He picked himself up and dropped his rifle, preferring to use his pistol for now. 

He and his men ran out from behind cover and began to make a fighting retreat, Kevin shot round after round behind him. Bullets and laser bolts eliminated their targets alike, but sniper fire from the top of the C.A.B. made the difference.

Now caught between the sudden hailstorm of bullet fire and the precise accuracy of the human snipers the weequay began to falter.

A figure entered Denise's sights. They wore a long black robe and a large hat with the same color, in her hands was what looked like a sniper rifle.

Denise lined up her shot and narrowed her eye.

The woman raised her rifle and aimed right back at her, within moments she pulled the trigger and released a blaster bolt toward the human.

Denise saw the bolt through her scope and tried to turn away and duck underneath the balcony edge.

The blaster bolt reached her first.

The woman raised a gun into the sky and fired a green flare, "Return to the Reaper!" 

The weequay all turned and followed the woman's instructions, within minutes the shuttle was back in the sky and flying away from the now smoking settlement.

"Find and treat the wounded!" The commander began to bark orders, "Take inventory and get me the U.N.!"

\-----

"Closing in on the site of the attack sir." The navigator officer spoke. 

In front of them was the remnants of the escort fleet, intel said it was a pair of Consular Class Cruisers. All that was left was the front half of one and another ripped in two. All that was left were floating corpses. There was no sign of the cargo ship.

Edward began, "How long ago was the attack?" 

"According to the transmission, around three days." The communications officer answered. 

“Scan for survivors,” Edward ordered an officer, “Any distress calls?”

“Non sir.” The communications officer spoke, checking his scopes. A small beep sounded and the communications officer turned back toward the captain, "Sir, we got an incoming message from The Crucible."

"Put it through on the comm station," Edward spoke before making his way toward it.

When he arrived he was surprised to see it was Amy Straus, one of the officers who were sent to train under republic crews who met him, not the Admiral himself.

"Surprised to see me?" The blonde smirked.

"You could say that," Edward spoke, "Where's the cap- I mean admiral?"

"He's on a separate call with the Secretary-General right now, he asked me to let you know the latest intel." She answered.

"What's the intel?" The captain asked.

"Antares was attacked just a few hours ago, most of their tabanna gas was either blown to smithereens or stolen." She began, "Command has now sent the second fleet to protect and help rebuild the colony."

"What are my orders?" Edward asked.

"You are to change from searching for survivors and shift your focus to hunting down any pirate vessels alongside the trade lines." She told him, "So far we know they've been making their way closer to Earth, maybe you can cut them off near Orion."

"Thanks for the intel," Edward smiled, "I'll relay this to the captain of Petrov, hopefully, she'll understand." 

Amy's face disappeared and was replaced by a black screen. He pressed several buttons and prepared to call the Petrov when a beeping sound came in from the bridge.

Edward made his way up, "Report."

"Three contacts sir," One of the officers spoke, "They coming in above us around three O'clock sir." 

Edward assumed his position, "Get me the Petrov and assume general quarters!" 

An alarm made its way through the ship, the men and women aboard ran to find their spots and assume their positions.

"I can't make contact sir," The communications officer spoke, panic clear in his voice, "Our communication is being jammed." 

"We can see them, sir!" The co-pilot spoke, "Looks like two Z-95s, and a CR-70." 

Edward leaned forward to get a better look at the approaching starcraft, "Can we make contact with them?" 

There was no chance to respond as the Petrov's engines erupted with power and sped toward the contacts, the guns blazing with blue laser blots.

The Z-95s strafed the Petrov, knocking out one of their laser turrets as it sped past and closed in on the Luna. 

"Sir, they're not answering comms." The communications officer exasperatedly responded. 

The Lieutenant pressed a button and began to speak to the entire crew, "All crew, we've been engaged by two fighters and a CR-70, they have opened fire on the Petrov." He paused, "Let's show them was Earth is made of!" 

The laser turrets locked onto one of the approaching fighters and began to unload.

The fighter rolled and spun, evading the laser bolts. 

Its wingman countered and strafed the spine of the Luna, striking the comms dish. It sped behind the Cruiser and began to pull up.

The rear turret landed two successive hits, one knocking out a wing of the Z-95, the other sent the shrapnel spinning through the void. 

"Sir, the Petrov!" The Pilot cried out.

Edward locked his eyes on the Consular Cruiser, it was attempting to strafe the right side of the corvette.

The CR-70 and Petrov traded blows and in a spectacular explosion that sent debris soaring throughout the void, the right engine of the Petrov Exploded. 

Edward watched the next moments with horror.

A second ship jumped out of hyperspace.

The vessel had a large bow in the shape of a hammer. It flanked the left side of the Petrov and fired several powerful shots and a few missiles.

The bridge of the Luna watched as the Petrov was torn apart by the two corvettes. 

Edward blinked in disbelief, his eyes couldn’t turn away, even as the corpses of the crew were ripped out of the vessel and into the void.

The Lieutenant shook his head and cleared his mind, "Turn around and jump to hyperspace when we're clear."

"Sir?"

"We won't last two minutes against these two, it was a stretch to go against the CR-70." Edward cursed his luck if he had only been able to coordinate with the Petrov, "We need to get to get back to Earth and get repairs!"

The Hammerhead and CR-70 turned toward the Luna and began to increase speed.

The Luna turned and began to speed away as fast as it could.

"All hands prepare for hyperspace." 

The Hammerhead and CR-70 began to close in and fired a few shots toward the Luna, when those missed a missile was shot from the now slowing down Luna.

The missile crashed into the center engine of the Luna just as the ship entered hyperspace.

\-----

Admiral Daws stared out of the window of the newly upgraded ISS. It had been a few hours since Earth had lost contact with the Luna and Petrov, speculation was still flying everywhere.

Russia had assumed the Petrov was attacked by a group of U.S. ships and the Luna.

The United States had calls of the same.

The United Nations assumed the Pirates had struck again.

Daws ran a hand through his beard and narrowed his eyes, his thoughts drifted from the speculation and moved on to the pirates themselves.

What was their purpose? Why would they attack Antares, there was nothing valuable except for the fuel, which had just barely begun being mined from the planet.

Was it to pit the nations of Earth against each other?

No. He told himself.

That seemed like thinking above the priority of a group of pirates.

He watched as Light Assault Cruiser, newly repainted a navy blue and a similarly painted Consular Cruiser jumped into hyperspace just ahead of a cargo ship carrying food and spices. 

"Could spices be the key?" He said to himself.

Suddenly a ship exited hyperspace. Even from his position, he could see the blue and gray paint job, and the damage.

It looked to be the remnants of a Consular Cruiser with the center engine ripped apart. Daws made his way to a nearby set of binoculars and looked through them.

His eyes widened in shock and two words left his mouth, "The Luna!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: A Call to Action

“This is Escortsgroup Husky we have engaged the enemy, I repeat we have engaged the enemy.”

“Mayday, mayday, this is the Sun Loral, we are requesting assistance from any within comms range, pirates are attacking and ou escorts have been destroyed.”

“This is the HMS Typhoon, we are dead in the water and require assis-”

“Pirate have boarded our vessel and have taken the cargo hold, they are about to enter the bridge, I repeat we require assistance!”

“This was the last message that we received from battlegroup Husky.” The High Admiral spoke, “With it, the loss of five Consular Class Cruisers and a Light Assault Cruiser.”

“Any idea what they’re after?” One of the Admirals spoke. Daws recognized him as a man named Melbourne, reckless and green, but he had a way of inspiring the people under his command.

“From what I’ve read from the recent reports from the First Fleet, Admiral Anderson Daws has an idea.” The High Admiral turned the room’s attention to the short man.

Daws stood up from his seat and cleared his throat, “After taking a look at the cargo of the ships that have gone missing there are one constant, spices.”

“What would spices offer that thousands of pieces of Earth made hardware doesn’t?” One of the older admirals asked, she was a woman named Jenis Lincoln. 

“I’ve done some research and found that in the greater galaxy, the area’s outside of our small cluster of planets, there is a massive black market for spices.” He paused, “It seems that by sending some of our spices out to the Galactic Republic, we’ve accidentally opened a can of warms.”

Another Admiral, a Latino named Marcos Cole ran a hand through his hair, “But then again, why hasn’t your fleet been able to deal with this, can of worms.”

“I’m not sure.” Daws spoke, “I’ve done as much research as I can, and from what I have found they always manage to ambush our ships and have a mixture of greater numbers and a better experience.”

“Send in more ships to protect the convoys,” Marcos suggested. 

“You think I haven’t already tried that?” Daws responded as soon as Marcos had finished his sentence, “Whenever I do, it ends like Battlegroup Husky, with the death of hundreds.”

"Are there any ideas I can bring to the meeting with the president tomorrow," The High Admiral asked, "We need a solution if we are to keep our positions and not be reabsorbed into the air force?" 

"I have a suggestion, sir." Admiral Daws spoke. The High Admiral turned toward Daws and raised an eyebrow, the man in question sighed and began to speak, "I would suggest that we pressure the U.N. to activate the Starfleet Accords, every nation is dealing with the same issues." He paused, "Alone we're outnumbered, but together, we may have a chance." 

The high Admiral stared at the shorter man and frowned, "I will mention your proposal to the president, though I doubt that he will follow your suggestion." 

With that, the meeting ended and Anderson Daws found himself immediately ambushed by a crowd of reporters. They had been camping outside the pentagon trying to get questions out of the admiralty since the Luna had barely limped back to Earth.

He pushed his way through and sat down in the back seat of the black SUV. He turned his head toward the driver, "Ronald Reagan Starport please." 

The driver nodded and they were underway.

It had been nearly a year since Earth and the Galactic Republic had many large cities had created starports where Airports used to be. Many planes had been either replaced by shuttles or outfitted with thrusters that made travel times much shorter. 

However, this was seen in wealthy countries only, many countries in Asia and Africa were unable to do the same. 

"U.N. unification! U.N. unification! U.N. unification!" A crowd outside of the starport chanted and held up flags of the United Nations and handmade signs of a united Earth.

Ever since the passing of the Starfleet Accords had been passed by the United Nations, calls for complete unification across the world has been steadily rising. These calls have become so powerful that several candidates in the approaching midterms have said that they were either pro or against unification.

This was not locked to the United States, but a growing minority was slowly making waves across the world.

The driver stopped the car and nodded, "Here we are sir." 

"Thank you, have a good day." 

He made his way to a private shuttle, which soon took off and made its way into the atmosphere, where he was able to get a good look at the newly upgraded International Space Station.

Instead of the tubes and solar panels that were before the ISS was now a massive dock and shipyard. It was shaped like two sideways trapezoids, split by a long box. 

"Those shipyards are putting in work aren't they, sir." One of the pilots spoke.

Even from where he sat he could see the beginnings of the first human ships being built in the ISS. On the right side of the ISS, there were scores of corvettes and a few cruisers well on their way to being built. On the other side of the station, where his shuttle was taking him, there was a dock and refueling station.

The shuttle landed and Daws made his way to the infirmary, when he arrived he narrowed his eyes.

"Secretary-General," He greeted, "What are you doing on the ISS, more importantly, why the infirmary?" 

The woman turned toward the admiral and stood up, straightening her dress back out in the process, "I was advised by the undersecretary to check on the men and women who had survived an attack by the pirates." She paused and stared at him, "What about you?" 

"I'm here to do the same." He responded, making his way into the room.

A frown immediately found its way onto his face. 

Many of the soldiers and crewmen had scars from shrapnel or were being given oxygen from machines. Some had bacta bandages to heal them.

"Ad… Admiral?" A raspy voice spoke.

Daws made his way over to the source of the voice and smiled, Edward was awake.

"How are you feeling?" The older man asked, "Not too scratched up, right?"

"I got off better than my crew I bet." Edward asked with a small laugh, which turned into a painful cough, "How are they by the way?"

"Most of them are out cold right now." Daws spoke, "I'm happy to see you back in action, now, what happened out there?"

"The pirates…" Edward paused and rubbed the back of the neck, "They outnumbered us and we were cut to pieces by fighters and a pair of corvettes, they cut off communications and made it impossible to coordinate or ask for reinforcements."

"That's troubling." Daws stood up and made his way to the window nearby, his gaze out toward the great expanse of space, "They've known exactly where we are, and exactly how to hit us." 

"Admiral Daws?" The Secretary-General spoke, "How bad has it gotten?" 

Daws kept his gaze out toward space, "I'm sadly not at liberty to say… although, I would say that there will be a crisis on our hands if this continues."

With that Daws left the room and the Secretary-General followed.

\-----

Jaimee Soto stared out at the ten representatives in front of her, the five permanent members of the UN and the five non-permanent. They all had been assembled as per her request. She cleared her throat and grabbed their attention. 

“Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice,” The Secretary-General began, “I have been in contact with the republic, several naval captains, and even senators from across the galaxy, they all say the same thing, we are in a crisis.”

“This is nonsense!” The Russian ambassador scoffed, “If this has anything to do with the missing shipments, this is solely to do with the United States, not anything worldwide.”

“Wait just a minute,” The American Representative protested, “Our fleets are getting by just fine!”

“That’s not true.” Jaimee cut in, “My contacts here on Earth and on the few colonies we have reported attacks, most notably on Antares, where the fuel for our Starfleet is.”

“Speaking about attacks, our trade ships have disappeared,” The South African representative spoke up, “So there is something wrong with our convoys, overall there hasn’t been much of an impact though, has there?”

“I had a friend of mine look into it,” Jaimee responded, “Overall the biggest impact is with our limited fuel reserves and the bacta.” She paused, “Without bacta hospitals will begin to get overworked again and our fleets will begin to lose fuel, if we continue to go without both the Republic or someone else may have to step in.”

“What’s the problem with that?” One of the other representatives asked.

“This is about more than our pride as nations, but pride as a planet,” Jaimee began, “You’ve heard of the Naboo blockade, the Trade Federation chose them because they wouldn’t make a move themselves if we bow down to these pirates and crawl to the Republic what would that cowardice say about Earth.” She shook her head in disgust, “It is time that we show the galaxy what we’re made of.”

“And how would you propose we do that, Secretary-General?” The Representative from Germany asked.

“It is time that we enact the Starfleet Accords and gather the fleets.”


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: A New Plan

"I wish to ask the senator from the United Nations of Earth," A representative from Just Drive Yards asked, "My sources have reported that your planet has begun to assemble your fleets and are preparing for battle, I have to ask the Senate, why must this be allowed!"

The chambers of the senate began to roar with shouts of anger, doubts, and cries of an invasion into the deep core.

Oscar Weasley sighed, he straightened his tie and pressed a few buttons, his seat floating out into the center of the floor, "I must remind the senate, our economy is increasingly growing more and more intertwined to the rest of the galaxy! If we were to invade it would do nothing but ruin our planet's future and end with the deaths of millions for nothing."

"Then why are your Starfleets assembling and purchases for larger craft underway!" Another senator shouted.

"Much like our Judicial Forces, our sector defense fleets are decentralized, by gathering them together Earth and her nations are united and preparing a major operation, to stop the pirate fleet that has been attacking our tradelines," Oscar answered.

"Why not just ask help from the Judicial Forces? Wouldn't they be able to defeat these pirates?" Chancellor Palpatine asked.

"By asking for help Earth will have bent the knee to these pirates," Oscar began, "We will stand firm and not allow them to have the satisfaction of defeating us!" 

\-----

“Cover me!” Laser bolts flew over Micheal as he slid behind a crate of supplies. He brought up his pistol and peeked over the crate before firing several rounds into the crowd on the other side of the cargo bay.

A red blaster bolt suddenly hit his shoulder and causing him to fall backward and curse in pain.

After several loud bangs and a few laser bolts, the bay grew quiet. 

A Pirate walked past the box and Micheal tackled the weequay with his good shoulder but was quickly sent to the floor by another pirate. 

“Micheal no!” Another wounded soldier cried out.

“Boss, there’s someone still alive.” 

A woman in black made her way over to the struggling soldier she wore mostly black with the only difference being a white undershirt. The woman, who was also a weequay, smirked, “You guys know what I say, one hostage is good, two are better, and three… well, that’s just good business!”

“Aye Aye, miss!” The pirate turned his attention back to Micheal and knocked him out with the butt of his gun.

The woman turned her attention to a commlink on her wrist, “Cargo bay is secure, what about your end Aton?”

“We’ve secured the bridge,” A gruff voice spoke, “Shall we jump back to the home base?”

“Yes, we have yet another group of hostages, I believe it is time to begin phase two.”

The cargo ship would exit hyperspace in a nebula somewhere in the deep core, in this nebula was a large space station, with signs of battles long finished clear on its surface. Surrounding it was a few scored of cargo and pirate vessels. 

The woman narrowed her eyes as they approached the starbase, “Get me in contact with Earth, and bring me those hostages, it's time we begin the ransom.”

“As you wish, Mrs. Ohnaka.”

\-----

“We can’t just fight them head-on!” One of the admirals shouted, “It’s not like pirates will willingly fight against a fleet of warships!”

“What about the Luna and Petrov, they were a military fleet!” Another shouted.

“They were two corvettes! Hardly a patrol fleet!” Another responded.

“What we need.” Admiral Daws spoke, "Is a way to lure them out and find their base of operations." 

"What's to say there is a base of operations?" Another one spoke.

"Look at the scale," Daws responded, "Ships all over the hyper lane and entire crews have gone missing!" 

"I'm sorry," One of the other admirals spoke, an eastern accent in his voice, "Who are you? You're not High Admiral Conner Merino are you?" 

"No, I was sent in his stead, an important meeting in the U.S. required his assistance." 

"Well then," The Admiral spoke, with a slight bow, "It would be nice to hear more about this plan of yours."

Daws nodded and took a breath, "If we give them a fat enough target there's a chance we can draw the enemy out, after that if we can capture a ship we may be able to find the source of the pirate’s attacks and stop it once and for all.”

The room grew quiet as the different admirals absorbed what Daws had suggested. One of the admirals opened their mouths to speak when someone entered the room and cried at the top of their lungs, “We have a transmission from the pirates!”

The admirals turned toward the hologram table at the far side of the room and watched with bated breath as a weequay woman appeared. 

“My name is Hanna Ohnaka,” She introduced herself, “for a while now I have been purging your hyperplanes of ships and trade goods, now I have almost three hundred of your people held hostage, if you want them back you’ll pay me three million credits worth of spice in the next rotation, along with this message you will receive coordinates for a drop off point!”

With that, the hologram disappeared and the room turned toward a discussion about whether they should pay the demand or not. Unknown to the admirals, the message had been broadcasted across all of Earth space, all eyes had just turned toward them.

\-----

1 Day Later

\-----

_ “Welcome to United Earth News! My name is Tiffany Levi, and today we continue the coverage of the pirate demands and how Starfleet plans to deal with their demands.” The blonde turned toward their guest and smiled, “Welcome onto UEN, Admiral Daws, is there anything official you are willing to tell the people watching at home? What does Starfleet plan to in response to this public declaration?” _

_ “Where’s the camera?” Daws asked with a glance around, when he found it he narrowed his eyes and leaned forward, “All I can say at the moment is that my biggest concern is recovering those hostages.” _

_ “When you say your biggest concern, do you mean that you’ll be leading the assault fleet?” Ms. Levi asked. _

_ Daws narrowed his eyes at her, “Who said anything about an assault fleet?” _

_ “Are you implying that you’re going to pay these pirates?” The woman asked, “Why would Starfleet agree to these terms?” _

_ “Like I said before,” Daws Began, “My biggest concern is recovering those hostages, nothing more, nothing less.” He paused and glanced toward the camera, “Weather that includes an assault fleet or not is important.” _

With that, the screen was turned off and Edward laughed, “That could have gone ten times better!”

Amy huffed, “The Admiral did his best to not reveal any information, what’s wrong with that?”

“He made it look like we were going to surrender,” The raven answered while buttoning up his captain’s shirt, “That’s what’s wrong with it.”

“You’re impossible,” Amy sighed, “I can’t believe he would put you in charge of the vanguard!”

“Amy, the vanguard is five corvettes, it’s hardly a battlegroup.” Edward glanced down toward the floor at the mention of the vanguard, “Besides the Luna was destroyed and my crew needs a new ship, hopefully, we’ll get one of those new Mercury Classes!”

“You think you’ll be allowed to captain the mercury?” Amy laughed, “Why would the Admiralty allow that?”

“Hey,” Edward shrugged, “A man can hope.”

“Hope for what?” Admiral Daws asked while he entered.

“Sir.” Both Luitenents stood at attention.

“At ease.” Daws waved a hand and sighed. He made his way to the window, “I’ve been assured that you two have been briefed?”

“Yes sir,” Amy responded.

“At least we have an ace in our sleeve.” Edward smiled.

Daws chucked for a moment before he turned toward the two, “Edward, you’ve been assigned to the EDF Mercury, your crew has the most experience with these pirates so t my recommendation the admiralty has seen fit to assign you to this ship, now follow me.”

The two followed Daws out toward the observation deck that overlooked the dockyards of the ISS, where they saw the EDF Mercury.

It was just smaller than the Consular Class Cruiser and had a long narrow frame until the bow, which had a rectangular platform. This platform housed two extra thrusters, a pair of lights, and a railgun underneath with a medium-sized thruster behind it. Just before the platform sat three missile launcher tubes and the bridge, behind the bridge were a pair of triple mount laser cannons, the rest of the ship housed the large engine for the massive thruster on the stern of the vessel. Just before the final thruster, there were two fuel pods on the keel and several fins to assist with atmospheric flight.

“Not the prettiest ship in the world, but it’s Earthling.” Daws commented before he turned toward Edward, “Don’t destroy it this time.”

“Convoy Fleet AFW-1 prepare to leave in two hours, repeat, prepare to embark in two hours.” The intercoms blasted.

Edward turned toward his two comrades, “I’ll meet you there.”

“Good luck, I’m rooting for you two.” Daws smiled at the duo, “Try not to kill all of these pirates, we need some alive.”

“We understand sir, hopefully, we’ll get the info we need.” Edward smiled and began to make his way to the EDF Mercury, the first ship Earth had built on its own.

Hopefully, it would speak on behalf of Earth.

A/N: I hope that my description of the Mercury made sense, it was the best I could do. If you want to know what ship I was basing it off of, search up the Isokaze-Class Destroyer from Space Battleship Yamato. 

Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment or review. Any constructive criticism is welcome!

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day!!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Operation Seagull 

“Destroy those pirates!”

“What’s taking so long!”

“They’re just cowards!”

“Starfleet my ass!” 

A pair of brown eyes stared down at the crowd with a sad expression, if only they knew. Daw’s stared up at the sky and let out a sigh, hopefully, everything was going according to plan. He turned and made his way toward his corvette, the “Crucible”. It would be time for him to join the fray soon enough.

\-----

The blue streaks of hyperspace faded away as the convoy arrived, his gaze scanned the void ahead of them, that’s where he saw it. The hammerhead corvette that had almost killed him and his crew. His anger flared for a moment, but a chime interrupted his thoughts.

“Sir,” One of the officers began, “The pirate vessel is hailing us.”

“Put it on screen,” Edward ordered, straightening his uniform.

On a small screen above the comms station, similar to one of those massive televisions back in the day, a weequay face appeared, “I assume that you’re the man who is delivering our spice?”

“You’re correct,” The Lieutenant spoke, “These cargo ships to my port and starboard are full of spice, how do you wish we transfer? Through an airlock?”

“No,” The pirate protested, “Your spice is securely held, just in case of a rupture in the hull, correct?”

“Once again, you’re correct.” Edward cursed his luck, looked like they would need to use their ace after all, “Let me give them the order to Jettison, stand by.”

Edward walked over to the communications officer and squeezed him on his right shoulder, “Give them the order.”

“Yes Sir.”

\-----

Rynn stared at the many screens and buttons in front of her doing her final checks when the loudspeaker began to cry out, “Operation Seagull is a go, repeat, Operation Seagull is a go! Prepare to launch!”

The woman put on her helmet and glanced over her shoulder, with a thumbs up she smirked and was ready.

It was time to see what these fighters could do.

It seemed as though the second that the cockpit pressurized the cargo bay depressurized and the fighter wing sped out into the void.

“Two contacts, twelve O’clock!” Her squadron leader, Sol One, began, “Sol Two, Sol Three, follow me! Sol Four, Five, and Six protect the cargo vessels as best as you can! ”

“Roger Sol 1,” Rynn spoke. She turned the stick and fell into position adjacent to her squadron leader.

The vanguard of Sol squadron fired a pair of missiles, obliterating the Z-95s, they turned and banked toward the next group of fighters.

Meanwhile, Edward narrowed his eyes at the hammerhead corvette and turned to his weapons officer, “Fire sleeper missiles!”

“They’re experimental missiles sir,” The officer protested, “Are you sure they’ll work?”

“We won’t know unless we try!”

Three black missiles launched from the bow of the Mercury and approached the Hammerhead corvette. Edward’s gaze followed the missiles even as Earth’s Cosmo Falcon’s danced through the void, chasing the pirate fighter escort.

Finally, when they were within a few feet of the pirate flagship they detonated, a pulse expanded for a short distance, encompassing the entirety of the Hammerhead, before dissipating. Edward smiled as the Hammerhead lost power, “Now we see that it works!”

“Sir, CR-90 Corvette and several consular corvettes have just arrived behind us!” The Comms officer spoke, “Identification reads… USS Saber.”

“Amy,” Edward smiled, his gaze was over his shoulder for a moment, “Looks like Lieutenant Strauss is here.”

The Saber and its accompanying fleet rushed forward and quickly disabled the remaining pirate vessels. The Mercury and the Saber both subsequently began to approach the Hammerhead corvette.

"So, how do you want to play this?" Amy asked once they were in position.

"You have that marine detachment right?" Edward asked, "Try and take over the vessel before it can regain power, we'll sit here to support you if it does."

The woman nodded and ended the video call. 

The crew of the Mercury watched in silence as the Saber docked with the Hammerhead. For what seemed like an eternity they waited, in a few of the windows they could see firefights. 

"Sir, a message from the Hammerhead," The communications officer spoke, "Operation Seagull is a success. You are free to dock in the airlock." 

"Let's do it," Edward responded.

After the ships had docked with each other, Edward and several members of ship security made their way into the Hammerhead Corvette, they were surprised to see how dirty it was.

Many of the overhead lights were blinking in and out, there was what looked to be oil or at least some sort of ash on the walls. 

There were bullet holes and blaster marks everywhere. Nevertheless, things looked like they had gotten worse. 

"You guys took your sweet time." Strauss said with an irritated face, "I take it this is the captain we need to interrogate?"

Edward looked down at the Weequay and then turned away, his thought drifting to the Petrov, "That's him." 

"We'll question him in my ship, you want to join us?" Amy asked.

"No." Edward answered, "I'll return to the Mercury, never know when more pirates will arrive." 

Amy stared at him for a moment before turning away, "You do that, I'll try and get answers before the Admiral arrives."

Edward and the Mercury undocked from the hammerhead and took a defensive position, the other starships that had arrived did the same, and the fighters did routine flyby’s. Edward stared out of the bridge window toward the Saber, he had his arms crossed and a frown on his face. With a long breath, he hoped this would end soon so that he’d be able to give closure to those who needed it.

“Sir, we’re getting a signal.” The comms officer spoke, “It’s still encrypted, Audio only.”

“Play it,” Edward ordered.

To his surprise, a series of beeps and pauses followed, the lieutenant bit the inside of his cheek for a moment, “Is that morse code?”

“I believe it is,” The comms officer said, “They gave their designation, AVS-005, the Crucible, they’re asking us for our status.”

“Are we able to respond in morse code?” The raven asked.

After a moment of looking through this ship’s computer, the communication officer nodded, “Yes we can, sir.”

“Send back that we’ve cleared the enemy ship and that we’ve begun the interrogation,” Edward ordered.

\-----

“Tell me, where are you coming from?” Amy folded her hand in front of the pirate, her face twitched in irritation, “We know you have a base.”

“Trust me, lady,” The pirate laughed, “I’ve been interrogated by much worse than you, the Hutts, bounty hunters, the worst of the worst,” The pirate held his arms out and smirked, “You’ll have to do much worse.”

“According to what I’ve learned about the galaxy, the Hutts don’t leave many people alive after they interrogate them.” Amy stated, “Maybe I can have the admiral contact them and see if they had an escapee?”

The pirate’s face went pale for a moment, “I..um..”

“Of course I could always forget about that let you go free,” Amy crossed her arms, “But, you would need to tell me where your boss is.”

The pirate was silent for a moment and frowned, “I want a full pardon if I’ll tell you anything!”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Amy responded.

“I won’t say anything until I get a full pardon.” The pirate crossed his arms and went silent, but after a moment he broke down, “There is an abandoned space station near Empress Tita! I know where just let me give you the coordinates!

With a scowl, Amy narrowed her eyes, “See that wasn’t so hard”

The Lieutenant turned toward the nearest officer, give him a tablet and he’ll write down the navigation points, make sure he doesn’t try anything. I believe we’ll be joined by Admiral Daws soon.”

…

“Welcome aboard the Saber, Admiral.” Amy saluted, “I am pleased to report that we’ve learned the location of their fleet.”

Admiral Daws and Lieutenant Anderson saluted back, both with a massive grin on their face. Daws took a step forward and let out a pleased sigh, “We’ll stop by Antares and pick up a unit or two of soldiers, then we will attack these pirates.”

\-----

Denise stared up at the sky with her bionic eye, she still wasn’t sure how she felt about it. The good side was how it would improve her aim, the downside...it wasn’t as cool as an eyepatch. Her gaze found a formation of around twenty starships, hovering above the planet, that’s when the garrison commander cleared his throat.

“Listen up!” The commander spoke, “Half of you will be joining the Starfleet above us, word is that they’ve found the pirate base and need soldiers to help make it,” He gestured toward Denise, “Those of you who have been assigned to this mission line up behind Officer Pelkey.”

Once they had been lined up, the group entered a shuttle and made their way up to one of the converted cargo ships, Denise watched as the fleet jumped into hyperspace. A chill went up to her spine as the black void turned blue, “I have a bad feeling about this.”

\-----

"All ships, this is Admiral Daws, our most important priority is getting boots on that space station, after we do that we can focus on their starships," Daws took a breath, "Good luck." 

Edward let out a sigh and watched as the blue hyperspace around the vessel began to dissipate, "Are the sleeper missiles ready?"

"Yes sir." An officer answered.

The Lieutenant turned to the officer, "Open fire at the nearest pirate vessel once we're out of hyperspace."

As if on cue, the ship exited hyperspace and was met by a group of two dozen freighters and smaller snub fighters. Behind those vessels was the space station, it was large and shaped like a cube with several rusty laser cannons on it. 

Edward gulped and turned his eyes back to the ships in front of them. Several of these fighters and freighters began to charge the fleet, strafing the cargo vessels and the ships around them. 

Unluckily, several shots from the space station's defense cannons tore apart a Consular Cruiser. 

"Sir, we've been target locked!" An officer screamed out, "What are our orders!" 

"Evasive maneuvers!" Edward ordered, immediately feeling the destroyer bank and speed up to avoid the lasers, "Once we're in their blind spot fire the sleeper missiles at the defense grid!" 

Edward turned his head to look out the window of the bridge and toward the fleet. 

Many ships had lost anti-fighter turrets and the Cosmo Falcons were doing what they could, but everyone he saw was either taking on multiple fighters or being tailed by them. 

"Sir!" An officer yelled, "Launching missiles!" 

The missiles left the bow of the Mercury and sped toward the station. 

The station's laser cannons had targeted another ship, a CR-70, and had already pierced the shields. It was now shattering the armor of the vessel, turning it to scrap.

"Which ship is that?" Edward questioned one of the officers. 

"It's the Crucible, sir!" The officer answered, watching with wide eyes. 

As the missiles exploded and sent a pulse through the station, and began down the turrets the final few shots destroyed the hull behind the bridge, sucking whoever was inside out into the vacuum of space.

Even from where they were they could see the corpse of Anderson Daws, the Admiral, floating through space. 

Edward blinked, swallowed his emotions, and turned to the communications officer, "Put me on fleetwide comms!"

"You're on, sir." The officer spoke after a moment.

"This is Lieutenant Edward Anderson, the Crucible has been destroyed and the Admiral killed," He took a breath, "As per chain of command I'll be taking charge of the fleet, I want all Consular Cruisers to protect the troop transports, the Cosmo Falcons and Corellian corvettes with work anti fighters! Confirm and execute!" 

As the ships confirmed the Mercury took a position at the head of the fleet and lead the charge.

Edward couldn't remember what happened next, he remembered issuing orders to his officers. He remembered missiles, lasers, flares, and some shaking. 

When he next opened took a calming breath. The Mercury was in a protective stance in front of the hanger bay watching troop transports entering the station.

He turned toward the wreckage of the starships, particularly the Crucible, and felt a knot in his throat. 

"Sir," A woman spoke up, the assigned second in command of the Mercury, Sasha Springer, began, "I can take it from here if you need some rest."

Edward looked down at the ground and let out an unsteady sigh, "You have for conn." 

He turned and made his way to his quarters, where he would wait for good news.

\-----

"Cover me!" 

Denise peeked out from behind the frame of the blast door and fired several shots at the pirates on the opposite side of the hallway. Each shot reached its targets and sent the pirates to the ground.

She glanced over her shoulder and pointed to the now clear hallway, "Squad three move up! Squad One, cover them!" 

“Incoming!” A soldier warned before he was hit with a laser bolt.

“Medic!”

Denise peeked around the frame once again and aimed down her scope toward the pirate group charging toward the pinned-down squad. She released a breath and pulled the trigger, the pirate's head lurched back and he fell to the floor. Denise adjusted her aim to the next pirate and did the same as before, another one down. 

With cover from the other squads, the third squad pushed forward and captured the end of the hallway, the soldiers formed a perimeter and Denise gestured to one of the soldiers toward a nearby consol, “The electronic’s should now be coming back on, we need control of the station's systems, put in the bug.”

“Yes, sir.” The soldier nodded and began to slice into the console.

Hanna glared at the cameras with a frown, the Terran soldiers were killing anything that got in their way she turned toward the weequay beside her and gave a small smile, “How long until comms is back?”

“It’ll be back in a moment, why?”

“Get me on the intercom.”

Denise ducked behind a corner and glanced over her shoulder toward the larger room, where the majority of the pirates would be. She glanced up toward the lights as they came on.

“Terran soldiers,” A voice began to speak, the voice of Hanna Ohnaka, “I have been watching you as you’ve pushed through our defenses, we surrender.”

Denise glanced at one of the soldiers with a confused look before turning to the nearest camera, “If you can hear me, I will only accept your surrender if you have all your men drop their weapons and walk toward us with their back turned.”

“Drop your weapons and walk toward the Terran's with your hands behind your head,” Hanna ordered. 

To Denise’s surprise, they were soon receiving scores of pirates who were surrendering. For the next few hours, the soldiers were joined by ship security soldiers and processed the pirates. 

Edward narrowed his eyes as the troop transports headed toward cargo ships and the few corvettes that had a brig. Amy minute now the Mercury would be heading back to Earth alongside several other corvettes and the cargo vessels holding the prisoners. The rest of the fleet would establish control of the station under the United Nations and Starfleet. 

With a frown, he nodded to Sasha and made his way to the brig, where Hanna Ohnaka was being held. When he arrived she turned her head to look at him, her hands were bound to the table in front of her with handcuffs. 

The two narrowed their eyes at each other while Edward sat opposite the Pirate, "I have several questions I want to ask you."

"I'll answer what I can," The woman began, "But I won't promise anything." 

"Let's start with the basics, what made you want to attack Earth and her hyper lane?" Edward began.

"Try and think from a pirate's perspective, to get rich." Hanna answered, "I'm sure your homeworld had seen a golden age of piracy, becoming rich with gold, spices, and everything in between."

Edward narrowed his eyes, "Then what about your ships, from what I can tell these are all too new and numerous to be from an actual pirate fleet, where did you get them?" 

Hanna laughed, "I didn't buy them if that's what you mean." 

"Were you hired?" When he didn't get a response he began to press the question, "If you were hired I can leverage Earth to lessen your sentence in favor of putting more on the person who hired you." 

Hanna tapped the table once before leaning back in her chair and staying silent. 

After a few unsuccessful tries Edward stood up and made his way out of the room, he had at least found something out. She had been hired by someone, judging by her reaction it had to be someone high up in the pecking order. Most likely a senator or a planetary leader of some kind. 

With a renewed vigor Edward headed to his quarters to check the holonet for senators or systems who were critical of the Earth. Maybe it could help them find their culprit.

Meanwhile on the Bridge Sasha Springer watched as the ship jumped into hyperspace and let out a calming breath. The battle had passed, only one ship had been destroyed and they had recovered the hostages and salvaged what ships they could from this operation, the UN and Earth itself would most likely be pleased. 

She gave a glance in the direction of the captain’s quarters. She hoped he would be alright, he had known the Admiral for years, she shook her head and turned back to her duties they would be back at Earth soon enough. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Tears

_ “This just in, the United Nations has confirmed that Hanna Ohnaka, the leader of the pirates who has been terrorizing our fleets and taking hostages has been captured,” Tiffany Levi smiled at the screen, “From what information we’ve been told there were forty-six casualties, but none of the hostages were harmed, return in half an hour to see a public announcement from the Secretary of the United Nations and a Lieutenant who lead a portion of the fleet.” _

Sheev’s blue eyes glared at the holo screen in front of him, it seemed that Earth was more prepared than he had realized, the failure of the pirate fleet was evident enough. He typed out a message to one of his contacts, it was time to cut loose ends.

He heard a chime and forced a smile onto his face, “Enter.”

Almost immediately a tall man with short ginger hair and a beard of the same color walked in, he wore a suit and tie. This man was Oscar Weasley, the Senator from Earth herself, he had requested an immediate meeting only a few hours ago, he was lucky Sheev hadn’t been booked.

“Ah, Senator Weasley,” Sheev turned off the holo net and turned toward the approaching senator, “I take it your planet’s recent victory against those ruffians is the reason for your visit?” 

“It is,” Oscar sat down opposite of the Chancellor and began, “I’ve been looking through the many laws when it comes to the trials in the court and I’m surprised how they’re almost identical to those of Earth’s. Due to those similarities, the Secretary-General has asked me to make a request of you.”

“Well, I am glad to hear it out, although I cannot promise anything,” Sheev responded, he felt a calming wave fall over the senator as he prepared to make the request.

“If at all possible, the Secretary-General wishes to hold Mrs. Ohnaka’s trial on Earth, we would be willing to negotiate the finer points of course, but since it was solely Earthlings hurt she wants-”

“I am willing to push it through,” Sheev responded, “After all, I have yet to visit your homeworld,” Palpatine tilted his head slightly, “When would the trial be held?”

“Most likely after the new year,” After a moment of silence Weasley realized what he said, “I mean after our next rotation, so… two months give or take.”

The chancellor smiled, “I look forward to it.”

After the senator left, Palpatine stood and made his way to the window behind his desk. His eyes looked out, scanning the skyline toward the Jedi Temple, he had plans for Earth and the Secretary-General had just handed him his next opportunity.

\-----

_ “Welcome back, any minute now Lieutenant Edward Anderson will be answering questions about the battle, hope you’re ready.” Tiffany Levi spoke, anticipation clear in her voice. _

Edward straightened the tie on his uniform and took in a breath, after a nod from a man in a black suit Edward pushed through the doors to the UN chamber and made his way toward the desk that had been assembled in front of a group of reporters. Already the camera flashes and the sounds of closing muzzles and clicks were causing him to get a headache, it had been a few days since their return and he hadn’t slept well since then.

He sat down at the desk and took a sip of the lukewarm water in front of him, why couldn’t they have put ice in it?

“Lieutenant Anderson are you ready to answer questions from the public?” The Secretary-General asked.

The man in question took a calming breath before he turned his gaze toward her and nodded.

“It was under my impression that the fleet was being led by Admiral Anderson Daws, why isn’t he present?” A woman asked.

“I now have been given clearance to answer this question that many of you have,” Edward began, a knot already forming in his throat, “Sadly during our assault on the space station his ship was hit and destroyed, the forty-six casualties that have been confirmed by Starfleet was from his ship, the Crucible.”

Another reporter stepped up, “We’ve been told that the pirate surrendered on her own, is this true?”

Edward nodded, “The commander of the soldiers that took over the space station has informed me that Hanna Ohnaka surrendered of her own accord, and after I talked with her myself I believe that the reasoning behind this was to spare her troops from harm.”

The questioning continued from there, about things ranging from the Mercury-Class to how well he’s slept since the battle. A few questions made him think about what his future in the navy could bring until finally, the final question was asked.

“What do you think should happen to Starfleet now that the pirate threat has been defeated and dealt with?”

Edward a hand to his chin and let out a thoughtful sigh, what should happen to Starfleet? There was a possibility that it could still be used as a security force for Earth and her trade lines with the Core Worlds and beyond. It could even act as a security force similar to the Judicial Forces in the greater galaxy. However, neither of these seemed right to Edward, while possibly the chance of the UN voting this in was slim. However, he had his idea.

“I believe that Starfleet should focus on exploration from here on out, and if there are any crises or wars that Earth needs to worry about, Starfleet would be willing and able to step in,” Edward answered.

“Are you saying you believe Starfleet should be here to stay?” The reporter asked.

“I believe it should not only stay but be an international force that allows people from every walk of life to join, after training of course.” Edward Responded, “This level of unity between the countries of the world hasn’t been seen for decades, I wouldn’t risk it slipping through our fingers again.”

The reporter nodded and the press conference ended. Edward glanced up toward the Secretary-General who nodded in the direction of her office, Edward got up and followed her. 

When they arrived in her office Jaimee immediately turned toward him, "Is what you said true, about wanting Starfleet to continue to exist even after the pirates have been dealt with?"

Edward nodded and crossed his arms over his chest, "Yes, if it wasn't for Starfleet pirates would still be raising our trade lines, taking hostages, and killing anyone who came after them," He sighed, "I believe that turning around and getting rid of Starfleet would be a massive mistake."

The Secretary-General gave an agreeing nod, "I'll be bringing this to the General Assembly in the future, if it passes and Starfleet becomes an actual organization, would you like to be the first High Admiral?"

Edward glanced down at the floor for a moment and shook his head, "No thanks, I would recommend my friend Amy Straus, she fought against the pirates and has the strategic mind for an Admiral."

Jaimee put her hand on Edwards' shoulder and gave a small nod, "Thanks for the recommendation, but it seems like you need a break from the navy." 

Edward glanced down toward his watch and friends frowned, "I have an appointment I need to go to soon, thanks for all the help." 

"Edward," Jaimee began, "If you ever need to talk, I'm here." 

The raven smiled at the woman and nodded.

\-----

A pair of blue eyes watched as Edward approached, he was still in his uniform from the press conference but had a bouquet of white orchids. 

The woman sighed as Edward approached but spoke nonetheless, "I would say you're late but…"

"Believe me, I didn't want to be there in the first place." He kneeled and left the flowers on the grave in front of him, "Then again, not what I had in mind for a place to be after a massive press conference." 

The two were silent for a moment while they silently prayed at their mother's grave. 

"What are you doing after this? Going back to your quarters on your ship?" Rebecca asked.

"Nah, I'm on temporary leave, wanna get dinner and talk?" Edward turned toward his sister and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sure, I know a good place." She smiled.

Before they knew it, they were in a small diner near the cemetery. The smells of all types of toasted sandwiches, hamburgers, and everything in between caused Edward's stomach to growl. 

"Haven't had anything good to eat recently, have you?" Rebecca smirked, "What would you like, I'll pay." 

"No, I'll pay," Edward protested, "I get better pay than you and I don't want you burning your paycheck." 

"Did you just…" Rebecca narrowed her eyes, "Brag about being a lieutenant?" 

"What?" Edward shrugged, "I don't want my little sister spending her hard-earned money on something like this, I want you to spend it on something you want."

"I want to spend money on this lunch, so shut up I'm paying for our food." She sighed, "Get whatever you want!" 

After a brief standoff, Edward relented and got a sandwich with fries. His sister and he chatted about anything they could, games, the news, and their thoughts on the Galactic Republic. Edward had a smile on his face the whole time and his sister laughed at a few of Edwards' horrible puns. 

Before they knew it the sun had gone down and they needed to go their separate ways. 

A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter, I feel like a small “break chapter” (If that’s the right term) would be nice. Stay safe and I hope you have a great day/night!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Loose end

A pair of brown eyes watched as a consular cruiser painted with the senatorial red of the Galactic Republic touched down on the landing pad. With a small hesitant breath, Jaimee turned toward the Undersecretary and nodded, "The press will be swarming us on our way to the UN building, everything has been taken care of?" 

"Don't worry," Emily smiled, "There has been a great amount of planning done, the Chancellor is extremely safe." 

Jaimee turned back toward the starship, the boarding ramp descended to the ground. The Chancellor was finishing his discussion with a young boy who had short brown hair and a braid going down to his shoulder. He wore a brown robe that was a size too large. When the boy's gaze found Jaimee, she couldn't help but feel a small chill go up her spine, as if the kid had been through far too much at his age.

"Does the Chancellor have a son?" Emily asked.

Jaimee glanced at the undersecretary, "I don't think so." 

As the Chancellor and the boy descended the ramp a second-robed figure was close behind, talking with what looked to be the security officer. The man had long brown hair and a budding beard, compared to the chilling gaze of the boy; the older robed figure's gaze was kind and warm. 

"Welcome to Earth, your Excellency." Jaimee greeted with a small bow.

Sheev smiled and gave a small bow in return, "It's great to be here, General-Secretary," He then gestured to the boy and older gentleman, "These two are my Jedi escort for the duration of the trip, Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padawan Anakin Skywalker." 

"It's nice to meet a Jedi in person." Jaimee smiled, "Shall we head to the UN building to get business out of the way?" 

"I believe that would be for the best." 

\-----

"So," A prison guard glanced over toward the other guard, "What do you think is going to happen to the pirate queen?" 

"Dave," The other guard sighed, "We don't get paid enough to worry about-"

A red laser bolt struck the man in the face, taking him out on one hit. 

Before Dave could even scream a pair of gloved hands grabbed him by the jaw and sharply turned his head, with a loud crack the other guard had fallen.

The figure glanced up to a nearby tower and pressed a button on his forearm, "Good job, Aurra, make sure I'm covered."

"Will do, Fett." The palliduvan spoke.

\----

Edward sat in one of the seats just outside of the Secretary-General's office. Across from him sat the two Jedi, the older one feeling slightly frustrated from the Chancellor refusing to be surrounded by an escort inside the office. 

"So…" Edward tried to break the silence, "What…. What are the Jedi?" 

Anakin immediately gasped, "How do you not know who the Jedi are?!" 

"Anakin!" The Jedi sighed, before turning back to the Lieutenant, "I apologize, Anakin can be a little… hyperactive at times." He paused for a moment, thinking of how to answer the Earthling's question, "The Jedi order is a group of Force-Sensitive individuals who safeguard the republic from those who would do it harm." 

"I've heard of the force," Edward began, "How does it work, what is it exactly?" 

Obi-Wan thought for a moment before answering, "Think of it as an energy field. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds all living things, it can even influence the events around you." 

Edward gave a nod, his questions having been answered. With that, he shrugged and took a breath, "Do you two have any questions that I could hopefully answer, about Earth?" 

"According to the Holonet, Earth has yet to form a planetary government yet, is that correct?" Obi-Wan asked. 

"Yes, that's true." Edward nodded. 

"Why can't everyone just get together, it can't be that hard," Anakin spoke, his childish ignorance showing.

"Let's see…" Edward rubbed his chin for a moment, "Earth has fought many wars, in just the last hundred years the most destructive conflict, a cold war that could have destroyed the world, and many civil wars across the world have led to deep scars forming." Edward took a breath, "Not everyone is ready to bury the hatchet just yet." 

"So how does the United Nations fit in?" Obi-Wan asked, "How is it that a multinational coalition of countries has managed to form and become the closest things to a planetary government Earth has?"

"I'll start by saying I'm not a pro at this stuff," Edward chucked, "After World War Two when the Soviet Union and the United States had seen the power of the weapons used to end it, it became a sort of common idea to not use these weapons." He sighed, "The United Nations has worked to keep nations in discourse rather than stop diplomatic contact and go to war."

"What weapons were those? And why did they stop people from going to war?" Anakin asked. 

Obi-Wan went slightly pale, "Anakin, I think we've asked eno-"

"No, it's alright," Edward asked, "It's not like this will hurt anyone in the future, the galaxy's at peace it will be like a fun fact." With a hesitant nod from the Jedi master Edward turned toward the young boy and answered the question, "Atomic weapons that are capable of wiping out cities, if both sides used them neither side would win the war, they would just be ruling over a graveyard." 

Obi-wan took a breath and smiled, "What kind of wildlife are here, I noticed you have a holo pad in your breast pocket, it would be nice to see what kind of animals live on this planet." 

\-----

“Where is he?” A soldier peeked out from behind a corner, only to see a hand reach out from the smoke and pulled him in. 

Another soldier ran in only to have a dagger lodged in his chest before he could even reach a laser bolt killed the second soldier. Jango Fett walked out from the smoke and made his way down the hallway, eliminating anyone who was in his path.

Eventually while crossing an intersection a soldier tackled Jango to the ground and punched the Mandalorian’s hamlet.

The soldier recoiled from the hit, “God Damnit!”

Jango responded with his punch and threw the man off of him before slamming his gauntlet into the man’s jaw with a resounding crack. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Jango saw another soldier running towards him. The Mandalorian raised his arm and shot a burst of flames toward his opponent. 

As the screams continued Jango stood up and made his way toward his target, he was close now. 

\-----

“With all of the proceedings for tomorrow’s trial out of the way is there anything else we wish to discuss?” Jaimee asked the chancellor, who had a thoughtful look on his face.

“There have been whispers in the senate that Earth’s continued military build-up after the pirate threat will eventually mount to a separatist movement or an eventual invasion into the core worlds.” He began, “Many want me to pressure you to end your build-up.”

“These rumors of a possible invasion, who has brought these up?” The Secretary-General asked, “I want to assure them that it’s all in the meaning of peace.” 

“How is a battlefleet a symbol of peace?” The Chancellor asked, “All we see is violence.”

“When the Judicial forces failed to stop the largest gathering of pirates since the Stark Hyperspace War, Earth used our ships to put an end to them.” Jaimee took a breath and calmed herself, “Our fleet is meant to be anti-piracy, and we’ll soon extend that protection to planets in the Deep-Core, Negs, and Outer-Rim, the one’s that the Galactic Republic have forgotten about.”

The chancellor narrowed his eyes, “The outer rim functions perfectly just the way it is.”

“The United Nations and Starfleet see differently.” Jaimee spoke, “Chancellor, the amount of lawlessness is insane.”

“Must I remind you Secretary-General, the galaxy isn’t like Earth,” He narrowed his eyes further, “I will do what I can to assure your words to those who have put doubt on Earth and her prospects, but remember, your steps into the galaxy are barely a crawl there is still much for you to learn?”

With that, the chancellor walked out of the office and made his way back to his quarters. 

With a small sigh, the Secretary-General watched Edward walk into the office, now joined by two others. On his left was Amy Straus and on his right was an older man with greying hair and a perpetual frown on his face.

“Good afternoon, are these the people I asked for?” Jaimee asked, still irritated from the previous conversation.

“Yes, Lieutenant Strauss and Admiral Peters.” Edward nodded, taking a seat across the Secretary-General.  
“Good,” She smiled at the assembled group, “With Starfleet’s new position it needs good admirals and commanding officers, you three are to be the first,” She turned her gaze toward Amy, “You will be promoted to the rank of commander alongside Lt. Anderson,” Her gaze turned toward Admiral Peters, “Your position will be the highest of them all, High Admiral of Starfleet and to fit your rank the EDF Terra will be your flagship, it is a recently bought Dreadnaught-Class Heavy Cruiser.”

The three sat up a bit straighter at those words, Edward was the first to ask, “Where are we going to be appointed?”

“While High Admiral Peters will have the final say I do have a few suggestions,” Jaimee began, “I want Commander Anderson to be the commanding officer of the first exploration fleet, finding out what is out in the unknown region, Commander Strauss will head the first anti-piracy fleet and use the newly acquired space station as a forward operating base, finally the High Admiral will lead the Sol Defense fleet and make decisions for Starfleet on a macro level, though they will be reviewed by a committee of course.”

“When will these promotions be made public?” The soon-to-be High Admiral asked.

“Before the trial tomorrow.” The Secretary-General answered, “Now if you don’t have any other questions then you can leave.”

“You seemed to be in a bad mood when the chancellor left,” Amy asked, “What happened?”

Jaimee sighed, “There are certain systems that doubt our planet’s build-up of Starships and wonder if we’re building and purchasing these starships to invade the Galaxy.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Edward answered, “What would we have to gain?”

“They’re scared of our power,” The High Admiral laughed, “And they have a right to be, we’re the most heavily armed planet this close to Coruscant, they’re worried if they can take us on in a fight.”

“You’re right,” Jaime spoke, “But we’ll keep our fleet as small as possible, we want to work with the galaxy not scare it away from working with us.”

Nathan frowned and stood up, “Thank you for the news, I can’t wait to see that pirate get charged.”

The other two thanked the Secretary-General and joined the high Admiral as they walked out of her office. She felt a shiver go up to her spine, something felt wrong.

\-----

"What is this guy?!" A guard screamed as a group of guards were taken out within seconds. 

The Mandalorian then turned his gaze on the last remaining guard and fired two laser shots into the man's chest.

As the man fell to the floor, Jango Fett let himself into the cell. His helmeted gaze on the weequay female, Hana Ohnaka, "A bounty's been put on your head." 

"I figured there would be," The pirate sighed, "The boss doesn't seem like someone who wants information to leak back to him."

"You're the only loose end left," The Mandalorian said, he raised his blaster toward the woman, "Any last words?" 

"Tell my son Hondo that he needs to keep his head down and be careful." The woman spoke, "Now do what you do best." 

The bounty hunter pulled the trigger and the pirate fell to the ground, smoke rising into the air.

Jango pressed a button on his gauntlet, "Target eliminated, pick me up on the roof of the prison." 

"Copy." Aurra Sing responded.

\-----

"This just in, Hana Ohnaka, the pirate being put on trial tomorrow has been reportedly been assassinated by an unknown assailant who broke into the prison and killed anyone who got in their way." The news reporter frowned, "It is still yet to be seen as to how the Secretary-General and all those assembled to put her on trial has responded to this information." 

Sheev turned off the holo pad and smiled before turning over and going to sleep with a satisfied smirk.

\-----

“So tell me,” The newscaster began, “It’s been a few days since the chancellor has left Earth, what is your opinion as to what happened with the trial and the assassination of the pirate?”

“All I can say is that we weren’t truly prepared to hold the trial in our home system,” Edward Anderson spoke, “However, in response to this the Secretary-General and General Assembly has accelerated the exploration fleets departure.”

“On that note,” The newscaster turned their body to the commander, “what do you expect to find out there?” 

“I hope to find new planets to colonize and help the Earth learn more about the galaxy.” Edward Answered.

The clip cut to a man with headphones and a mic, “Can you believe this?” the man began, “The whole of the United Nations is just sending off this expedition to distract us from the real issues the planet faces, the Republic itself, they’ve begun to take most of our resources through trade already if things continue-”

Amy paused the screen and turned toward Edward who sighed, “I’m being used to fuel a conspiracy theorist podcast...yay!”

“Get serious Edward,” Amy sighed, “He’s right, most of our spices, resources, minerals, everything is being shipped off-world thanks to the Secretary-Generals plan to help gain respect after the debacle last week.” 

“What do you want me to do then?” Edward asked, frustration in his voice.

“Be careful,” Amy spoke, “We don’t know what’s out there.”

Edward nodded, “I’ll be careful.”

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading this far, I hope that you guys will be patient as I take a short break to draft out the next “arc” of the plot. Which will feature a bit of Exploration and the Clone Wars!

Once again thanks, and I hope you and your families are safe!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading the first chapter of my Earth in Star Wars Fic, I hope you liked it, feel free to leave a comment as it will make my day.


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